February is Fantasy Month!

Happy February, friends! I know February often brings on some lingering winter blues. It’s situated in that awkward space where the newness and excitement of winter have long since worn off and yet spring still feels far too distant. Poor February gets a bad rep.

That’s why the most illustrious Jenelle Schmidt started February is Fantasy Month! Because not only ~alliteration~ but what better way to add some life in February than celebrating one of the greatest genres out there?

(I’m not biased or anything.)

Over on her blog, Jenelle is posting all sorts of fantasy-themed posts and there’s a Bookstagram Challenge, so if you want to kick the February blues with some fabulous fantasy goodness, do check all of that out. (Also, you should just be following Jenelle in all the places anyway because she’s an incredible human bean and produces delightful content always.)

I couldn’t help but join in on the celebration a little bit (because, hello? FANTASY) and toss some of my tippity top favorite fantasy reads your way.

NOTE: Obviously, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, Peter Pan, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass are some of my favorite fantasy stories to exist ever. Duh. But since those are a given, instead I’ll be listing more modern novels. (Except I did just list those so sneaking them in anyway. 😏)

Since I have uh…quite frankly a lot of favorite fantasy books and narrowing it down to just a few was nigh impossible, I’ll just be doing a super quicky rundown of each of them. Though feel free to ask me for more details about certain ones in the comments! You know I always enjoy gushing about my favorite books.

I shall be linking to their GoodReads page so you have no excuse not to add them to your to-read shelves. *cackles* (And I’m going to chaotically give no order to these whatsoever because how can one put some kind of order to one’s favorite reads, I ask you?)

Ready to up your TBRs (because, really, they can never be big enough, riiiight)?

FOR FRODO!!!

Er, I mean…LET’S GO!

MY FAVORITE
FANTASY READS

• THE CITY BETWEEN SERIES by W.R. Gingell // Urban fantasy, a cinnamon roll of a girl referred to as Pet is “adopted” by two fae and a vampire respectively, shenanigans ensue, and mysteries, and murder, lots of murder, some of the best-written character arcs I have ever experienced in my life, sass, humor, FEELS, oh. the. feels., rather violent so be warned but some of my favorite stories to exist on this earth even though I’m not a huge urban fantasy fan so there’s that

• THE BEAUMONT & BEASLEY SERIES by Kyle Robert Shultz // Fairy tale lore in a 1920s-esque setting, side-splittingly funny, but also feels, plot twists galore, expansive world, characters to utterly fall in love with, Shapeshifting Dragon of Secrets and Sass (we stan Malcolm always), time-wimey, quick reads, very clean but never afraid to get complex which I highly appreciate

• THE ICARUS AFTERMATH by Arielle M. Bailey // Star Wars meets Greek and Roman mythology, yes it’s that epic, found family done at its PEAK, exciting plot but the heart of the characters always stays at the core, grieving over the loss of a loved one finally done right in fiction, characters I would die for, SPACE, I cried, you should read it and cry too, a touch of swearing and kissing but nothing too heavy, have I mentioned it’s one of the best found family books I’ve ever read?

• TWO MONARCHIES SEQUENCE by W.R. Gingell // Fairy tales with just the wildest twists, Gingell’s trademark wit and humor spilling from every page, fascinatingly complex plots and magic, adorable characters, sass, romances that make me squeal an embarrassing amount, I did mention the sass, right?, how does one even describe a Gingell book just do yourself a favor and read them!

• A FAIR ACCOUNT OF THE TRAITORS SNOW WHITE & ROSE RED by S.E. Page // A crossover retelling of Snow White & Rose Red and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, GORGEOUS prose, such a rich world, an extremely unique read and I want more pleaseandthankyou, a dark, rich, stunning fairy tale story at its finest

• ECHO NORTH by Joanna Ruth Meyer // Retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon with some Tam Lin and Beauty and the Beast vibes for good measure, another positively gorgeous fairy tale read, characters I just want to gather in a hug and keep safe forever, characters who are instead never safe and make me cry, book mirrors that let you go inside book worlds(!!!), a perfect mix of stunning prose wrapped in an exciting plot, whimsical and magical, one of my favorite fairy tale retellings ever

• TALES OF AMBIA SERIES by Allison Tebo // Fairy tale retellings with delightful Pixar and Studio Ghibli vibes, witty and laugh-out-loud hilarious, features a grumpy fairy godfather who far prefers to bake over interact with people, clean and fun for all ages, full of heart, chaotic shenanigans for days, sweet romances and fabulous bromances, very quick reads that just make me happy

• THE ELECTRICAL MENAGERIE by Mollie E. Reeder // The Greatest Showman meets an enchantingly bright steampunk world, islands run on stardust, epic animal automatons, one of the best bromances of ever, Sylvester Carthage and his chronic pain but ultimate desire to chase his dreams makes me CRY, Dominic the electric butler (what more do you need?), whimsical and enchanting and bright and full of plot twists and difficulties but always threaded with hope, simply spectacular

• THE LUNAR CHRONICLES by Marissa Meyer // Scifi fairy tales, what more do you need than a cyborg Cinderella, really?, hyped for a reason, delightful romances and found family, CARSWELL THORNE FOREVER, just downright fun

• DRAGONS IN OUR MIDST by Bryan Davis // Basically my entire teenagehood, the obsession was real, but DRAGONS, and Arthurian Legend, and plot twists for daaaays, complex, unique, Christian contemporary fantasy that cannot be put in a box, precious characters and very deep, moving themes, did I mention DRAGONS, just epic stories all the way around

• TALES OF GOLDSTONE WOOD by Anne Elisabeth Stengl // Beyond gorgeous, fairy tale vibes all the way, rich and in-depth, dynamic and complex characters, incredible worldbuilding, an eerie and mysterious wood full of dangerous fae (my fave!), genuinely some of the most beautiful stories I have ever read in my life

• THE GOOSE GIRL by Shannon Hale // Retelling of the fairy tale by the same name, somehow rich and yet beautifully simplistic and elegant all at once, one of the best fairy tale retellings I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, a protagonist who displays softness and kindness as strength and it is beautiful and refreshing

• ENTWINED by Heather Dixon Wallwork // Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling, actually takes time to get to know all the princesses without it ever feeling overwhelming, so deliciously eerie, but also humorous and cozy somehow, such good characters and romances, immersive descriptions of dancing, spectacular family dynamics, one of my favorite retellings

• DRAGONKEEPER CHRONICLES by Donita K. Paul // Fun fantasy at its finest, there are dragons the size of KITTENS, such a delightful world full of fascinating races and creatures, tons of humor but plenty of heart as well, a dynamic cast all the way around, dragons absolutely everywhere, just…DRAGONS

• HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Dianna Wynne Jones // Hi yes this is my favorite book of ALL TIME so please go read it and have your life instantly enhanced, mousy girl gets cursed into an elderly woman and embraces it with sass and the occasional use of deadly weed-killer, conceited wizard takes her on as his housekeeper in his moving home, chaos ensues, hilarious and whimsical and cozy, ugh this book makes me SO HAPPY

Let it be known that I could easily keep going, but I guess 15 is probably enough… 😅 And, technically, it was way more than 15 because a ton of those were series. I just really like fantasy books, okay??

But there you have it! Some of my top, top favorite fantasy reads of all time! (If you’ll notice, fairy tales and dragons play a huge role in my overall enjoyment of stories. I make no apologies.)

Don’t forget to hop over to Jenelle’s blog to keep up with all the fantasy goodness! You can check out THIS POST for all the details and there’s a linkup there to share the link of your own Fantasy Month post should you make one and you can see everyone else’s there too. So do be sure to check that out!

A huge thank you to Jenelle for hosting this. It’s a delight every single time!

Have you read any of these? Do we share any favorites?? (Because I want to fangirl with people!) Which ones appeal to you the most? I’d love to know! And what are some of your favorite fantasy reads?